We are often told that unemployment is 'no excuse' for committing crimes. It certainly does not follow, as many in government would have use believe, that crime is unrelated to social conditions.

Examining a mass of evidence from Great Britain, the United States, Canada and other industrialised countries, Steven Box shows how criminal activity increased with unemployment, poverty and sharpened competition between firms. He demonstrates that corporate as well as individual crime is affected by the experience of recession and that changing pressures and opportunities alter the character and...

One of the classics of radical criminology - a compelling account of how power and powerlessness operate within the criminal justice system.

First Published in 2004. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.